Colombo will not smell of roses soon! 

The sewers of Colombo: an epidemic in the wings

By Faraz Shauketally

The 1900s is famous for many things: Joseph Conrad wrote the Heart of Darkness, mass production of cars began, the Panama Canal was built and in Ceylon, the sewer pumping stations of Colombo, too, were built. An immensely helpful part of the infrastructure build undertaken by the British colonial rulers: the fact that it has lasted this long is testimony to their engineering capabilities and indeed the robustness of the system. It has hardly needed ongoing maintenance which probably was just as well - given the typical Sri Lankan penchant for carrying out little maintenance as possible.

All good things must come to an end and that is exactly what has happened to the pumping stations and much of Colombo's sewerage system. It is over 100 years old, and is under performing, leaking and threatening the sanitary levels in Colombo.The development of Colombo city over the years - the hotels, the houses, the high rise buildings with their growing number of apartments, schools and the increase in the population has had a heavy burden on the sewerage system.

The antiquated equipment and the aged pipes are taking their toll and it shows. Pumps are partially working or not at all. The collateral damage is very much in evidence: wastage, incorrect meter readings (when air gets into the system as pipes leak) and most frightening of all, the potential for an epidemic of gigantic proportions: the repercussions will be felt everywhere.

The tourism industry will shudder at the thought of an outbreak of any disease. The industry is susceptible to even minor threats as it is. It is still struggling from the impact of the tsunami, low occupancy levels due to the global economic crisis and the perceived terror threats - especially the LTTE attacks in areas that were never a part of the terror threat like Galle for instance. It certainly can do without another potential liability.

The much anticipated war effort has finally shown results. The stock market is expected to once again display its traditional (and now well known) buoyancy. Anticipation of a boom - despite the global crisis - in the economic fortunes of this country is at an all time high. The fall in the housing sector is expected to rise sharply on the back of the permanent lull in the northern parts of the island as the war comes to an end.

The sewerage system is quite literally breaking - bursting even - at the seams. Pipes are bursting, the leakages seep into water lines in parts of Colombo like Maligakanda and Wellawatta. The leaks underground cause further damage too: roads are collapsing adding to the chaos on the roads in the city. As the leaking sewers slowly but surely seeps into the water lines as well as wells, the potential for a disaster of immense proportions is a real possibility.

The Colombo Municipal Council is presently being run by an unelected administrative official acting as Competent Authority. Such a move whilst being prudent and necessary to take care of the day to day administering of the CMC functions - is inadequate to forge development policies, which are usually politically driven.

With the recent convincing election victory by the UFPA and the appointment of a new Chief Minister, the immediate future of the CMC looks set to be better. Notwithstanding this, the Competent Authority has made moves to obtain support and funding from the Department of National Planning.

However, with the enormous additional drain on the Treasury in terms of spend relating to the Internally Displaced, for instance, funding for projects such as these - however critical and essential it may be - will be at a premium.

Sources close to the CMC say that this project will need to be escalated as a priority project and foreign funding agencies and donors will need to be approached.

What is certain however is that Colombo has a grave and imminent risk on its hands - its citizenry expects that their elected legislators will be responsible enough to recognise the urgency and the reality of the problem well before it is too late and that all party support will bring about a solution sooner than later.